Born in 1901 in Essex, John Skeaping trained at the Blackheath School of Art, Goldsmiths College, the Central School of Art and Crafts and the Royal Academy Schools. In 1922 he first exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. While in Italy in 1925, Skeaping married the artist Barbara Hepworth. Skeaping is best known for his animal subjects that combined his wonderful draftsmanship with the aesthetic of the Modern Movement.